Networks provide communications from one node on a network to other nodes on the network. The nodes may include a variety of equipment that utilize the network to communicate information to other equipment on the network. For example, a workstation on a network may communicate with a server or a printer over the network. In a more basic network, a sensor may communicate information to a base computer, which may communicate information to a mechanical actuator. The base computer may communicate with a variety of sensors and a mechanical actuator to perform a desired operation.
The communication channel provides a medium to allow the network to communicate with the network nodes. The communication channel may be one or more conductive wires or optical cables. The communication channel may be a wireless communication channel using, for example, radio frequencies, microwaves, or infrared.
The network may be a Local Area Network (LAN). The nodes on the LAN may communicate with other LANs via a Wide Area Network. To provide routing of the data within a network and to various other connected networks, the network may use equipment to facilitate routing of data. For example, switches, routers, hubs, bridges may be used to transmit and communicate data between nodes and networks.
The network may use a protocol to allow the nodes to receive and transmit data. One of the most commonly used protocols is Ethernet. Ethernet allows nodes to package data, transmit the data to the desired node, and unpackage the data at the desired node. The nodes on the Ethernet network may use a network interface card to supply data from the node to the communication channel.
The Ethernet protocol also provides recovery of data that may be corrupted or lost during transmission. However, the protocol cannot recover when nodes or equipment on the network lose connection with the network. Fault tolerance is often provided to assure continued node-to-node communications. Redundancy of components on the networks allows the node to communicate over a secondary component when the primary component fails. Nodes of the fault tolerant network may have more than one network interface cards, and include nodes having multiple communication paths. A network fault tolerance manager oversees detection of failures and manipulation of failure recovery. Failure recovery includes redirecting data transmission of a node or component indicating a failure. The fault tolerance manager may terminate communications over a primary network interface card or communication path.
Even though the fault tolerant network may restore communications over a secondary component of the network, the node attached to an Ethernet network can sometimes suffer conditions that cause the node to generate inordinate amounts of traffic, assume the electronic identity of other nodes attached to the network, or otherwise interfere with the desired operation of the network. In a fault tolerant network deployed in a critical application, this failure mode could cause loss of visibility of that node or other nodes on the network. In some cases, this failure could cause loss of control of equipment associated with the node.
Accordingly, an efficient and effective system and method is needed for preventing error communication from failed nodes or equipment from interfering and/or preventing legitimate communication by other nodes on the network. In addition, the system and method may provide information to the fault tolerance manager regarding which components or equipment of the network are generating error communications.